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Monday, August 6, 2012

House Hunting

We headed up to Ipswich yesterday for a little day trip and some house hunting. We love our place but we think we may want just a little more room to spread out, and we have been dying for some outdoor space. So the first place on our list was this....

Haha, Not! I wish, but I'm guessing that this 59 room mansion might be a little out of our budget. This home was designed for the Crane family from Chicago (shout out to Chicago natives!) and was built by David Adler between 1924 and 1928. He was an architect that also built a few homes in the town we grew up in so the style was a nice taste of home.

The story is that Richard T. Crane wanted to build a home that his wife would love... you were a smart man, Richard. Although he had originally built another more Italian inspired mansion that was equally as huge, but his wife wasn't feelin' it. So he tore it down and commissioned this stunner. I'm guessing she may have been a little...particular.

But still...Joey, take notes :)

This place was BEAUTIFUL!! The grounds were impeccably maintained and the view of the ocean was to die for.

This was the view from the back terrace. Gorgie!

I'm thinking we need to get married again, because an event here would be jaw dropping. There was a private function going on inside so we just took our time wandering the grounds.

The Grand Allee was half mile long and opened right out to the ocean. I can only imagine how fun this would be in the winter with these sledding hills!

To the left of the home were the formal gardens with two hexagon tea houses on either side.

No joke, I was speaking in an English accent by now and pretending I was at Downton Abbey. Joey was too embarrassed to admit he was with me at this point.

THIS WAS THE GARAGE!! Whaaaaat?! Ummm, I would have no problem sleeping next to the gas can if my room looked like this.

The details were amazing. Every walkway was flanked with stone statues and urns. It was like we were completely transported in time.

I do have to say that it was 95 degrees and humid, so I am glad that it was not still 1928. I was sweating my tuckus off in shorts and a tank, so a long corseted dress may have killed me.

All in all the property was nice, but Joey said he was looking for a few more fireplaces ( because 20+ were just not sufficent), and he also just didn't know where he could put in an above ground hot tub. That boy is all class...

Guess we need to go back to the drawing board!

XOXO Katie

BTW we are not really looking for a new place, but a girl can dream :)

2 comments:

Oh my gosh! I would feel like Richie Rich living in that Mansion. I love everything that you featured. The grounds, the building, the surroundings, plus the view of the ocean are very exquisite; I would really feel like a princess living there. Those pictures certainly made my day. Thanks so much! ^_^

A girl can really dream Katie! I guess that house will be on the list of my dream houses. I was looking for some new architectural designs for homes and I love the house you presented here. I guess I can have some more ideas of what house that I’m going to buy next year, and I hope I can get a bigger loan so that I can acquire a bigger house. Fingers crossed! :D